Spring 2003

Download Summer 2003 issue (PDF, 977 KB)

From the Publisher's Desk by Jim Ball
Biblical Reflections on land and the Lord
Living on the land, living a Christian land ethic by Steven Bouma-Prediger
Visions on the Land by Sarah Brown
Land Conservation... A Christian Perspective by Kara Unger Ball
WWJDrive in the Bible Belt by Jim Ball
Recommended Reading
Mystery Solved, It's the Cussedness Factor by Ken Wilson
Not in a nursery by Marion Turnbull

From the Publisher's Desk

Jim Ball

Dear Friends,

The focus of this Summer 2003 issue is land. As the Scripture passages we have printed on the following page attest, this land is not my land, this land is not your land, this land is God's land. This land was not made for you and me, it was made by and for Christ (Col. 1:16b).

As God says in Lev. 25:23, "'The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.'"

We were created by God to be His image, to reflect how God would care for the earth He has created. But our sinfulness has warped His image within us. We don't reflect how God would care for the earth. After the Fall humanity no longer reflects the true image.

But there is one who does. Christ "is the image of the invisible God ..." (Col. 1:15).

How would the Suffering Servant, who died to reconcile all things (Col. 1:20), how would he care for His land that He has entrusted to us?

I urge you to think about that as you read through this issue. When you read about the vision of Joshua and Sara Brown to build a village in Indiana, when you read Steve Bouma-Prediger's reflections on Aldo Leopold's land ethic, when you read Kara Ball's article on how land conservancies do their work, when you read Ken Wilson's sobering reflections on how our sinfulness foils our attempts to be truly God's image, think about how Christ would care for the land. What would that look like? Have you ever seen it? Have you done it?

Let us know.

Your brother in Christ,

Jim Ball

Biblical Reflections on land and the Lord

Colossians 1:15, 16b "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation ... all things were created by him and for him."

Hebrews 1:2 "in these last days He has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe."

I Corinthians 10:26 "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.'"

Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."

Leviticus 25:23 "The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.'"

Deuteronomy 10:14 "To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it."

I Chronicles 29:11 "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours."

Isaiah 66:1-2 "This is what the LORD says: heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool . . . Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?' declares the LORD."

Psalm 104:13-15, 21-24 "He (God) waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for humans to cultivatebringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening. How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures."

Genesis 1:26-2:1 "Then God said, let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.' Then God said, give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the groundeverything that has the breath of life in itI give every green plant for food.' And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morningthe sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array."

Genesis 2:7-9a, 15 "The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the groundtrees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food . . . The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it . . ."

Leviticus 25:1-7 "The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, speak to the Israelites and say to them: "When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year will be food for youfor yourself, your manservant and maidservant, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.'"

Genesis 1:17 "To Adam he said . . . cursed is the ground because of you' ..."

Isaiah 24:5-6 "The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth ..."

Hosea 4:1-3 "Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: there is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.'" Revelation 11:18 "The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and greatand for destroying those who destroy the earth."

Living on the land, living a Christian land ethic

Steven Bouma-Prediger

We live on it. We dig in it. We are made of it. Land. Dirt. Earth. We are, insists Genesis 2, 'adam from the 'adamah, humans from the humus.We humans are Spirit enlivened dirt, God animated dust. And yet we all too often, knowingly or not, exploit the land and treat it "like dirt."The land is viewed as mere commodity--real estate--simply an instrument to meet our own needs and wants. But is there a land ethic? Not just an ethic for charismatic animals or useful plants, for pretty places or endangered ecosystems, but for the land? If so, what would such an ethic look like? What would be the contours of a Christian land ethic?

The term "land ethic" has a history. First articulated by Aldo Leopold in his still widely read and influential Sand County Almanac, the land ethic incorporates many of the insights of modern ecology: knowledge of trophic levels and food webs, of energy flow and cycling systems, of organisms and their niches within habitats and communities and ecosystems.

For example, Leopold insists that we must learn to think like a mountain--to see the interdependence of the natural world, to view death as a necessary part of life, to take a long-term view of the earth and its evolution.The emphasis here is on the land organism.To quote Leopold's famous moral maxim, "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." The land community itself has intrinsic value, and thus has moral standing. Not just the individual organisms that live on and in it, but the land itself has moral value.

There are many strengths to the land ethic. It affirms that the earth and its many creatures are valuable in and for themselves, as well as being valuable for their usefulness to us humans. It insists that all creatures must be recipients of moral regard, though it is left open as to how to rank competing moral values. Leopards and loons are not necessarily of the same moral value as Lars and Lucy. Some hierarchy of value is thus acknowledged. In sum, this ethic gets us to see the land as a morally valuable community of interdependent creatures.

Critics, however, level two main criticisms against the land ethic. First, some accuse Leopold and his followers of engaging in the naturalistic fallacy--of illegitimately moving from is to ought. In other words, Leopold derives ethical values from ecological facts, normative prescriptions from scientific descriptions. A judgment of value--that hunting is morally wrong--cannot be derived from a judgment of fact--that the deer population is dwindling, so the critics claim. However, as ethicist Holmes Rolston argues, we can and must derive our ethical prescriptions from our ecosystem descriptions. Our moral oughts arise, in part, from our knowledge of how the world works.

Another criticism is that the land ethic is a version of "environmental fascism." Its exclusive focus on the biotic community runs roughshod over the rights of individuals within that community.

As a result, there is the grave danger that the good of an individual will be sacrificed for the good of the community.This is a potent criticism and raises a potentially serious problem for certain forms of this ethic. It is not an inherent problem, however, and various advocates of the land ethic have addressed this perceived shortcoming of Leopold's ethic (e.g. Baird Callicot's work). So what would a modified land ethic look like?What additions and/or corrections are necessary? They include, at a minimum, the following.

First, any ecocentric or earth-centered perspective like Leopold's must, from a Christian point of view, be transmuted into a theocentric perspective, for our earthly home, for all its importance, does not lie at the center of things. God is at the center, and all things, whether on earth or in heaven, exist to praise God. The land ethic should be incorporated into an explicitly theocentric and, more specifically, Christian, theological framework.

Second, the land ethic is woefully incomplete for creatures such as us who inhabit the water planet.

With approximately 70 percent of the earth's surface covered by water, the land ethic must be extended and/ or renamed to include the great bodies of water on our blue-green planet. Leopold's claim that "the land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land," must itself be enlarged to include the oceans and great inland lakes. Such is perhaps implied, but it must be made explicit. The ethic we seek is an ethic for the entire earth.

Third, some provision must be made to protect the rights of individual humans. The criticism mentioned above--that the good of a particular person might wrongly be sacrificed for the good of the entire community--must be taken seriously.

Therefore, to ensure that the legitimate rights of persons are protected, certain basic human rights must be acknowledged and duties that protect those rights incorporated into any overarching ethical framework. As Lewis Smedes reminds us, an ethic that combines attention to duties and rights with concern for goods and consequences is more adequate than an ethic which embodies only one or the other.

Fourth, a hierarchy of values is necessary. Some scale of values is required, for within the biotic community relevant discriminations must be made. Holmes Rolston, who follows Leopold in many respects, makes this point especially well. Taking issue with both biocentrism (a life-centered ethic) and anthropocentrism (a human-centered ethic), he speaks of the natural world as "bio-systemic and anthropo-apical."

The system [ecosystem] does not center indiscriminately on life, with one life being equal to another; and the system does not center functionally on humans, who in the ecological sense have little role in the system. Microbes are more important than humans instrumentally. All value does not "center" on humans, though some of it does. Everything of value that happens is not "for" humans; humans defend their own values, and humans need to recognize these values outside themselves. Nevertheless, humans are of the utmost value in the sense that they are the ecosystem's most sophisticated product.

The entire bios or living world must be taken into account morally speaking (bio-systemic), even though the human lies at the apex in terms of a certain kind of value (anthropo-apical). Such claims presuppose a scale of value, and Rolston offers for serious consideration his own sophisticated "model of intrinsic, instrumental, and system value."

Fifth and finally, though the land ethic fosters certain ecological sensitivities and capacities, little explicit or sustained attention is given to those traits of character called virtues. Leopold's land ethic, while suggestive of virtues such as humility and respect, needs to be developed, supplemented, and/or corrected by a more thorough examination of the virtues from a Christian perspective. [Editor's note: See Steve's book, For the Beauty of the Earth, for an excellent example of this.] We should ask not only what we should do, but who, individually and in our communities, we should be.

In our cold commodity culture, we desperately need a Christian land ethic, or better a Christian earth ethic. We need an ethic that inspires a vision of shalom, of the flourishing of all creation, and that fosters in us virtues like self-restraint and frugality, humility and honesty, wisdom and hope.The embodiment of such a vision, far beyond any words we could speak, might be just what this world is longing for. Imagine a world in which we Christians were aching visionaries--aching for God's good future of earthly redemption and living out such a vision in our everyday lives. May God grant us the grace so to live.

Editor's Note: Steve Bouma-Prediger is a professor at Hope College in Michigan. He is the author of For the Beauty of the Earth, available from Baker publishing.

Visions on the Land

Sarah Brown

If I am still and the winds are quiet I can hear the happy babble of the creek just beyond the forest edge. From the porch of the abandoned farm house I look out over the rolling fields where the corn is nearly knee high. The children run down the grassy hill to the field's edge to collect stones and flowers. I almost can't believe the story is true, but we are living it.

"Mommy can we build the village now?" The children have been dreaming too.

When we live in the village we'll have horses, and we won't have to board our goats, sheep and chickens on the farm down the road. New friends, old friends and family will finally be neighbors, and we'll build our lives on these 269 acres just south of Greenfield, Ind.

The anticipation and excitement are building, so many things are now in place, so many questions have been answered, and so many new families are inquiring everyday.

People are ready to finally put down roots, build houses, plant fruit trees and vineyards, gardens, and those who plant will enjoy the fruit, and those who build the houses will dwell in them, and those who gather the harvest and bake the bread will delight in the work of their hands, with their little ones beside them.

Story after story, the theme is the same, the society has left them lonely, stressed, weak, unhealthy, busy, over stimulated, overworked, yet accomplishing little when it comes to the things that matter most. Some have moved to the country for the answer, yet face the loneliness of seclusion. Others try to change, and live more simply and are misunderstood by family, church members, friends, and co-workers. We all struggle with trying to live the lives we long for, but it's a battle because in many ways our society has lost touch with the meaningful things in life. Our culture has gone to the extreme trying to make everything so convenient, and yet families have to drive miles and miles just to do all the things that one could be done in the home, in the back yard, and in the village.

Our culture has turned away from an agrarian home based life style to build segregated districts of residential, commercial, industrial, medical, educational and agricultural areas.We pass parking lot after parking lot each surrounding our destinations- the day cares, the strip malls, the mega-stores, the nursing homes, the fast food chains. And all of these areas are separated by miles and miles of asphalt to form a franchised society.

Is this what we really wanted? No, we find our hearts drifting down cobblestone streets, gazing into candlelit windows, longing to open the door to the music of the past. We make gardening, fishing and horseback riding our hobbies why not make these things our lifestyle, and why not do it together?

When our family first began to propose building a real village people scoffed at us. There were so many things against us.

Number one: we were young and inexperienced, raising our three toddlers with a baby on the way.

Number Two: we didn't go to school to be developers.

Number Three: we didn't have millions of dollars.

Number four: we didn't have any land.

Number five: Were there other people out there who would put their lives into this venture?

Number six: No one is really doing anything like this in Indiana and we are sure to have an uphill battle with the local government.

Number seven: Wouldn't it just be more convenient to be passive and accept society as it is?

Now as I look out over the fields, none of those factors mean anything. Nothing that seemed to be against us was able to overthrow this vision bound for reality.

We have been surrounded by others who share the vision and are working with us to provide the maturity, the experience, the energy, the finances, and the support.

We are surrounded by many skilled and experienced individuals, architects, engineers, builders, craftsmen, and others.

And to everyone's' surprise the local government is enthusiastic about or project and is excited about the new direction it will bring to our county. And now we have our feet on the beautiful land that we intend to settle on.

Other pioneers are joining us, each family with a vision, coming to a place where they will have the freedom to bring those dreams to life. There are now well over 100 families, individuals and retirees considering joining our venture.

We are currently settling on a rural location with diversity in the landscape, potential for family farming, and good proximity to the outside community. Simpler Times is a Community by design.

We create spaces conducive to viable interactive living. The rest is up to the people who make themselves at home in the Village.

We are planning to center the village around a green commons with walking paths that lead to a plaza, and then into the neighborhoods, homesteads, gardens, parks, forests, the creek, farms and pastures. The village center will be designed for pedestrians. Shops and homes will have rear access to parking and streets, so that they are out of sight, and need not be crossed while shopping.

As we design this new community we are looking back to a time when local people ate local food, built with local stone and wood, and lived in the same village, tending the same vineyards generation after generation. Everyone could walk anywhere they needed to go. There were always people with certain trades in every village.

The community was generally self-reliant, and had it's own charm. Families operated cottage industries, and children attended schools at a small school house or were educated at home. It was common to keep laying hens, a dairy goat or cow, horses, and depend on the garden. Neighbors would trade butter for eggs. The daily tasks of living were full of variety, with hard work, courage, faith, and a dependence upon the animals, the land, each other.

Our goal is to use the best of our current technology ,and blend progress with the age old traditions of family life and village life of the past, to strive make a place that is created for people from all walks of life. We have the financial support to turn this vision into a successful reality. We are also working with USDA's Rural Development to help entrepreneurs attain financing for starting businesses.

We are coming up with a business plan to help the cottage industries get off to a good start. We will begin by having weekend festivals, musicals, and special events in the village from time to time. All of the Village Shops and Attractions will be open one or two days per week, for the first few months, so tradesmen and women can transition gradually from city jobs to cottage industries. We will have a contest for homeschooling families who want to start multigenerational businesses in the village, the winner will get 3 acres for the price of one. We are working with Indiana Rural Development to provide loans for entrepreneurs.

We will organize a legal barter system to encourage trade among neighbors. We will offer village gift certificates that can be used throughout the village, recycled, or redeemed by shop keepers. No matter how busy the village gets we will always be closed to the general public at least a couple days a week so we will have time to live as a community.

The company building the village is called "The Little Village Makers L.L.C." That's us, Josh and Sarah Brown. We intend to begin selling lots over the next year. It won't be long before families can choose their spots.

We will offer many types of building sites. The smallest lot will be just enough room for a primitive camping cabin, tucked in the woods by a creek connected to other cabin by a narrow gravel road with a common parking area. These lots will start at around $10.000. Small Cottage Lots for homes under 1,100 square feet will cost less than $15,000. There will also be Town house lots, family home lots (1/4 1 acre), Cottage industry "shop lots" on the village green, multifamily homes with units for rent, assisted and independent living for seniors, 1 ½ - 3 acre lots for small homesteads, and a few family farms (that seem to be spoken for already).

The price includes a road paved with something better than asphalt, hook up for the localized

constructed wetland for potty water and grey water, electric, phone, cable, and gas.The cost for residential lots range from under $15,000 topping out near $40,000.

Why all the technology? Many families need to operate Internet stores and things to increase sales, and we are making this place desirable for families that want a different way of life but wish to use appropriate technology. Each family may choose their level of technology. We are also designing homes that families may customize and have built. Local builders will also work with us and build spec homes in the village.We will be keeping about 80 acres for parks, recreation, green space, farm fields,community gardens, pastures, forest, and nature preserve.

We are planning to use natural building materials, and local resources as much as possible. We intend to recycle wood from old barns and use the many stones that can be found on the property and during excavation. We would like to experiment with cob building, straw bale, cord wood construction and other alternative forms of building as we build the camping cabins. We hope to get alternative building materials legalized in our county.

The location we are settling on is very close to Greenfield, Indiana. The town square and historical area is within walking distance. But you wouldn't know it, the land is encompassed by forests and streams, with a large lake to the north. We are in very close proximity to horse stables, a sports park, and a hospital (2 ½ miles away).

As we plan we give priority to people who want to live a home centered life. We value children, families, the disabled, senior citizens, and are clearing a path for all those who are looking for a better place to live, work, garden, shop and relax. We are planning to make large lots affordable so that families with one income can have land for small-scale farming, gardening and food production at home. We are thinking about the simple things in life that we enjoy the most, and we are working hard to make them a valuable part of everyday life in SimplerTimesVillage.

We believe that it is the love and power of God that is directing the course of our path. We believe He is giving us an opportunity to offer a better way of living to those who crave a home-centered life, and desire to live more in tune with creation. Though not everyone who is joining us shares our faith in Jesus, we can see the Lord's hand upon each one of the people who come.We know that He desires that we be a light in the World, a "city" on a hill that can not be hidden.

The sky couldn't be bluer as I stand on this hill pondering what has brought us here. I try to wrap my finite mind around what could be. So here we are with a little vision,a lot of courage and so many things beyond our control that have come together to bring us home at last. As I pick up one of the many smooth stones I'm thankful, knowing I had prayed that there would be many stones, for the many dwellings that would be built in this village. Editor's Note: Contact Sarah Brown at 225 North Main Street Fortville, IN 46040 (317)485-6515 www.ruralvillage.org

Land Conservation... A Christian Perspective

Kara Unger Ball

"Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land." (Isaiah 5:8)

Those of us in the United States have been richly blessed with an abundance of land. We have over 3.7 million square miles of land and water through which the Lord provides us with food, fiber, fresh air and water, and our understanding of who we are as a nation. It is also home to God's other creatures.

A majority of the land in the U.S. is owned by private citizens. However, we are all citizens of our communities and as Christians we are citizens of God's kingdom. How, then, should Christians respond to land use issues and to our responsibility to steward the land under our care?

Each day in America we are losing 8.6 square miles of our finest lands to development. At this pace, many of the special places in America will be gone within 20 years. The conversion of farmland and other open spaces to development causes a host of environmental and fiscal problems. Since it costs $1.04 to $2 for every dollar of tax revenue brought in to provide services to a typical subdivision, current taxpayers end up subsidizing outsiders who typically bring increased traffic, crowded schools, and degraded environmental conditions.

The loss of habitat, habitat fragmentation, and introduction of exotic invasive species brought by development are the biggest causes of the loss of biological diversity in our country. We also hurt our neighbors by causing air pollution from driving more (see EEN's "What Would Jesus Drive" website for the effects of air pollution on human health); polluting the water we send downstream to others through increased runoff and pollutants from construction sites, lawns, and impervious surfaces (hard surfaces such as parking lots and roads); and leaving fewer undeveloped places for others to enjoy. All of these diminish God's creation. Land Conservation Organizations

Land Conservation Organizations

Land conservations throughout the country work in response to these issues. There are over 1,200 land conservation organizations that have protected more than 6.2 million acres. As well, there are a host of land conservation organizations active abroad.

How do these organizations conserve land in the U.S.? Most importantly, they work with willing landowners on a voluntary basis. No land conservation organization can force a landowner to give up his or her land. A land conservation organization can focus on protecting habitat for God's other creatures, parks for human use, agricultural land, an historic feature, or a particular watershed. Whatever their objective, most use the following basic protection methods. Own and Manage.

Own and Manage.

The land organization (also known as a land trust) buys the land and all the rights associated with it or accepts the land as a donation. The land trust then agrees to keep and manage the land in perpetuity (or "forever"). Resell to a Third Party.

Resell to a Third Party.

The land trust buys the land, retains the development rights, then resells the land without the development rights to another buyer. Conservation Easements

Conservation Easements

Owning land may be thought of as owning a "bundle of rights." A landowner may sell or give away the whole bundle, or just one or two of those rights. For example, a farmer might need his land only as a hayfield for cattle. A land conservation organiza tion could then purchase the rights to construct buildings or subdivide the land, while the farmer keeps the land to use as a hayfield. The land organization would hold the development rights in perpetuity but never exercise them. The rest of the rights to the land would remain with the farmer, who can live on the land and sell it at will. The conservation easement would apply to all future owners, ensuring that the land will never be developed. Public Policy.

Public Policy

Land conservation organizations can promote public policies that support land conservation. For example, they can promote "smart growth" policies, tax incentives for land conservation, and education of citizens and lawmakers on the importance of their work. Many are also undertaking extensive community outreach and compatible economic development activities in order to reduce pressures on the land.

As Christians seeking to live out God's call to steward the land under our care and to love our neighbor through our land conservation choices, we can be active in several positive ways. Support land conservation organizations.

Support land conservation organizations.

Landowners as well as those who do not own land have opportunities to support the work of land conservation organizations. Most of these organizations are secular, giving Christians a wonderful opportunity to witness Christian care for creation in their interactions with the land trust community.

Contact a land conservation organization to support their work or potentially protect your own land. Learn more about the needs and issues important in your area. (See the website of the Land Trust Alliance to find a land trust in your state, and visit the websites of A Rocha and Eden Conservancy to learn more about two Christian land conservation organizations). Learn more about organizations that protect public lands (such as The Wilderness Society, National Parks Conservation Association). Make personal choices that conserve land and do not contribute to sprawl.

Make personal choices that conserve land and do not contribute to sprawl.

When choosing a home or place to live, seek a place that will allow you to use public transportation, bike, or walk to work. Select a place that has been redeveloped as opposed to new subdivisions built on former farmland or open space. Be active in your local politics and zoning decisions.

Be active in your local politics and zoning decisions.

Many land use decisions are made locally throughout the country. Make your voice heard at local meetings. Support policies that curb "sprawl development." Support creative options such as neotraditional development that concentrate housing on smaller lots while leaving open space for parks and habitat, as well as options that mitigate negative impacts, for example substituting "impervious" (hard) surfaces that cause polluted water to enter streams and rivers with more porous options that allow water to soak back into the ground. Love and learn more about your neighbors.

Love and learn more about your neighbors.

Christ commands us to "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mk. 13:31). Each of us affects people around us our neighbors - by our land use choices. Each of us can love our neighbor better by learning to make land use choices that reduce harm to others. For example, by minimizing or eliminating the pesticides you put on your lawn, you can reduce the water pollution burden borne by those downstream. By reducing the amount of driving you do by living closer to where you work, you can reduce harmful air pollution. By refusing to buy a house that has displaced open space and by choosing instead a redeveloped or older neigh borhood or a neotraditional develop ment, we help leave space for God's other creatures and open space for people to see the beauty of God's creation. Practice sufficiency and contentment in your land use and housing choices.

Practice sufficiency and contentment in your land use and housing choices.

Each of us is consuming more land per person than ever before. As we continue to use more and more land to make bigger and bigger houses and more roads, we displace more and more of God's creatures. The Bible teaches that we are to practice con tentment (1 Tim. 6:6-9, Heb. 13:15) and provide for the creatures (Ps. 104:10-13). We can do this by seeking dwellings and lots no bigger than what we need.

Land conservation is a joyful way to glorify the Lord. Let us go forth and love God and neighbor by caring for the land.

Editor's Note: Kara Unger Ball is an environmental consultant who previously served as the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy's Director of the Sustainable Countrysides Program. She has also served as Vice-Chair of a local planning commission.

WWJDrive in the Bible Belt

Jim Ball

My wife and I recently finished an 11-city 8-state "What Would Jesus Drive?" tour of the Bible Belt that began at the First Baptist Church in Austin,Texas, and ended at Riverside Baptist Church in Washington, DC.

I spoke at a wide variety of events, including worship services, adult education classes, church suppers, a clergy breakfast, and aVacation Bible School. I also spoke on numerous Christian radio programs.

We concluded the traveling portion of the Tour by having a booth at the Creation Festival, the largest Christian music festival in the world with over 50,000 in attendance.

Here is what a June 6 editorial by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said about our campaign:

"The presentation wasn't what we expected, and we'd bet we weren't alone.We expected a fire-and-ozone sermon blasting the automobile as Satan's tool.What we got was a polite conversation, led by a very un-slick Reverend Ball. The message was simple: Humans should do what we can to conserve what we can, and protect the environment-sorry, Creation.

Who could argue with that?

The good Reverend didn't even take shots at the SUV, which is high on most environmental hit-lists. He says get an SUV if you need it.

But if you don't, why not testdrive a car that gets 50 miles to the gallon, like some of the newer hybrid cars? If the faithful create a market, Detroit will build them. And the more of those babies coming off the assembly line, the cheaper they'll become. Faith, meet basic economics. The Reverend's right.

The Reverend Ball then went on to speak of Jesus as the Great Physician, who wants all of mankind to be healthy. And how higher-efficiency automobiles would make America less reliant on oil from other countries.

It was all low-key, sensible, and well, kind of disappointing for a reprobate inky wretch just looking for a bit of controversy to spice up a weekday edition.What it was, we realized, was good copy-with a whole new emphasis on the good part."

If all of our Tour experiences taught us anything it is this: the message of the WWJDrive Campaign is sound.

Once we reviewed how the Bible proclaims Jesus Christ to be Creator, Savior, Sustainer, and Reconciler of all things, of how his Lordship includes our transportation choices, of how Jesus taught us to love our neighbors, and how pollu- tion is contrary to all of these things, people came to a fuller realization of the basis for our campaign. Once we explained that our driving is having harmful consequences human health impacts, global warming's threat to the poor, and our oil dependence people understood more fully how reducing our pollution and getting better gas mileage are part of loving our neighbor and protecting creation.

Kara and I also met with mayors, state representatives, and city council members to share our message and urge them to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles for their fleets.

One of the interesting things I learned is that many such officials had never considered how religious values could be related to fleet purchases.

The traveling part of the Tour was a great experience. (Our website has photos and my Road Journal. See http:// www.whatwouldjesusdrive.org/tour/

The final act of the Tour has been constructive meetings with Administration officials and Congressional offices. I ask for your prayers that all of these efforts bear fruit.

Mystery Solved, It's the Cussedness Factor

Ken Wilson

My bicycling route takes me through a gauntlet of trash created by illegal dumping. The road is picturesque, if one squints the eyes hard enough, for it is a heavily wooded lane. The south side of the road is a marsh; on the north side a creek twists its way through ponderous oak and walnut trees. Songbirds inhabit the area.

Recently I walked the half-mile stretch, and like a stock boy at inventory time, catalogued the castaways:
-- countless bottles, cans, and pails
-- fast-food containers from almost every franchise
-- 5 fifty-gallon drums
-- cement blocks
-- plastic drainage pipes
-- plumbing from kitchen and bath
-- trash bags filled with yard debris
-- sheets of plywood
-- 3 rolls of carpeting with complimentary padding
-- 11 mattresses or box springs
-- a lamp
-- 3 car seats (2 bench type, 1 bucket)
-- 6 reclining chairs
-- 9 overstuffed chairs
-- 6 couches
-- a hide-a-bed sofa
-- a child's chair
-- a footstool
-- a baby crib
-- a pair of boots (Were they in better shape than mine?)
-- a child's trike
-- a washing machine
-- a refrigerator and a freezer
-- a water heater
-- a television (not high definition)
-- a fence gate
-- a newspaper vending machine
-- 78 tires
-- 1 dead possum
-- and, irony of ironies, a trash compactor.

Over the years I have observed the measures the county has taken to forestall this illegal activity. The initial campaign involved posting thirteen signs that read, No Dumping $500 fine, but at the foot of each is a trash pile, and two of the signs are riddled with bullet holes.

A barrier was the next defensive measure. On the south side of the lane the county erected a three-foot high rampart of earth and stone. The barricade was intended to prevent vehicles from pulling off the road to dump.The measure proved ineffective and worse: the barrier is the perfect height to serve as an unloading dock as cumbersome items are launched from a tailgate into their final resting place.

As preventive measures have grown, the dumping has increased almost as if a duel of wits is taking place between authorities attempting to preserve the land and dumpers cleaning out garages and basements. The dumpers have victory in sight.

In microcosm this stretch of road illustrates our global problem. Despite posted warnings of fines and earthen barricades, the lovely woodland setting is being destroyed.

Why?

This section of land is nameless and of unknown ownership. There is no connection with the land by those who trash it.

Because it is a nameless stretch of land, it appears to serve no useful purpose, thus an ideal location for an improvised landfill. If the land belonged to someone respected or feared another stretch of road would be found. Nameless land is fair game.

The land is secluded. If I wanted to do a little illegal dumping, I would want a location where there was a slim chance of an awkward and expensive official interruption. It's an old story: we are only as good as the unobstructed view of mother's eye. Out of sight, out of control.

The woodland road is convenient. It is hardly more than five minutes beyond a busy neighborhood, which is far more convenient than trucking junk twenty minutes away to the nearest landfill--and, as a bonus, while the landfill extracts a user's fee, the woodland imposes no tariff. In a society of the ten minute oil change and "Hot and Now" burgers, the benefit is clear.

There is the gravitational attraction of a black hole: it is perfect for dumping because it is already polluted. After the first pile of trash, the rest was easy. The next dumper who came along had no need for guilt. It is herd instinct: "What's one more load?"

This is a reasonable analysis of the woodland destruction: it is a nameless piece of land, which is secluded enough for dumpers to feel secure, which is convenient enough for a short haul, and which is so trashed already it spares dumpers whatever guilt they might experience in a pristine landscape.

These thoughts seemed reasonable until a visit toYellowstone National Park. On a walkway over a dazzling geyser pool I was interrupted out of my reverie as two Coke cans and a Twinkies wrapper floated by.

This was not a nameless piece of land; it is part of our national heritage.

The place I was standing was not secluded but very public--discovery and prosecution was a serious possibility. Waste receptacles were situated every few yards along the walkway; it took more effort to carry the trash to the pool then to place it in a trashcan.

Convenience was not a factor. The setting was pristine. The trash in the geyser pool contradicted my explanations.

What I failed to take into account is the cussedness factor--the human delight in perversity. Knowing something is harmful to the self and others does not mean a person will behave in a way that assures long-term interests. Humans break rules as a way of hitting back at life. Cursed is the ground because of you is Genesis's explanation.

Creation suffers because humanity has a dysfunctional relationship with God. A Jewish proverb remarks, "If God came to live on earth, people would smash his windows."

The Creator is out of reach, but the Creator's creation is at our mercy. The ecological destruction of the earth is a devilish way of striking back at the One whose beautiful dream earth once was.

The trashing of the earth is our vandalizing graffiti sprayed in defi- ance over God's marvelous edifice. The cussedness factor resists noble attempts at consciousness-raising and education, mocks half-hearted endeavors at legal enforcement, and is bitterly hostile to any priority other than self-satisfaction. Jesus observed that most external prob- lems are in fact internal ones, for out of the heart come evil intentions...(Matt.15:19).

Every act of environmental damage is accompanied by the toxin of our alienation; the destruction of earth's ecology is a fist in the face of God and Eden is lost by inches.

Long-term solutions to the ecological crisis will have to take into account the cussedness factor or they will be naïve and useless. We have been running up a tab for such a long time that the payback will be immense.

According to Christian wisdom, redemption of the broken can only occur when the blameless are willing to shoulder the cost.

Don't mistake me, each of us is guilty for specific ecological prob- lems, but we may have to shoulder responsibilities for particular disas- ters in which we played no actual part.

The earth is not nameless: the earth is the Lord's. The earth is not secluded: God observes our behavior. The changes needed are inconvenient: restitution is always painful.

And regardless of our part in creating the problem, God will hold us accountable for our part in the solution. Dr. Joseph A. Sittler noted, I have no great expectation that human cussedness will somehow be quickly modified and turned into generosity or that humanity's care of the earth will improve much. But I do go around planting trees... (Grace Notes and Other Fragments).

Editor's Note: The Rev. Dr. KenWilson was for over 20 years the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of South Bend, Ind.

Not in a nursery

Marion Turnbull

No," he said, "a nursery is no place for them."

We were speaking with the Assistant Minister for Forests in Cameroon about the huge hardwood forest trees, like Mahogany, Sapele and Iroko.

"These are becoming extinct," he said. "Only old furniture will remind us of the names."

We shared his concern. Living in a Cameroon forest village for some years, we had been grieved to see the giant trunks felled, then cut into sections to be transported to the coast for export.

Roads and bridges were being built for the purpose. There is money to be gained - at great expense to the life of the forests.

"Yes," said the Minister." The Government needs the money, and we thought we could just grow more trees.

We planted seedlings in a nursery, but they failed to grow. Oh, they start

well enough, and seem to be coming on fine. We give them every protec- tion and every encouragement, but at last we realized the problem.

They need all the challenge of the forest, other trees, animals and insects, to grow to their full potential. A nursery is no place for them.

God spoke to us through those trees. We were going through a very difficult time. We had come here to do the work of God, but were being frustrated in every direction.

Yet we knew God had put us here. We loved the rainforest.

The heat may be intense on the dusty main road, but here in the shade it is cool and we can walk in comparative comfort. Night is the noisiest time with the loud incessant orchestra of animal cries, frogs, bats and insects.

At mid-day you get the impression that even the insects put their feet up in the air, but, then, the smell of human flesh always tempts the hordes into action.

The path must climb over giant tree roots that lock and intertwine with other trees' roots. Creatures lurk in the angles of the great but- tresses, and creepers fight for space on the huge trunks.

We look up and up, but the top of the Mahogany tree is invisible to us. The trunk disappears through masses of foliage from smaller trees and creepers. Way up there we know that its top branches are reaching the sunlight in the high canopy.

We feel puny and full of awe.

We began to think. What does a young Mahogany do when other trees crowd out the light, strangling vines cling around its neck, insects attack its leaves and monkeys steal its fruit?

Does it hang down its head and moan, say that the circumstances are impossible to live in? No. It struggles until it senses the source of light, then stretches out its arms to heaven and reaches upwards, always upwards towards the light, shouting (I think anyway) Hallelujah! until it finally breaks out into God's sunlight above the high canopy of the forest.

It isn't conscious that its trunk is growing stronger and straighter, or that it has reached a dizzy height, because its senses are tuned to the sunlight above.

It doesn't realize, as it balances itself on enlarging buttresses and sinks its roots into the water-table below, that it is a blessing to the many creatures who shelter between the buttresses and make their homes in the intertwined roots.

Creeping vines take their suste- nance and support from the trunk and high branches, and parasites cling, but the tree, growing on by the life invested in it, hardly notices.

Monkeys and birds know where the fruit grows - towards the top - and swing or fly about up there, enjoying themselves immensely in its branches. The tree can give freely, like its Maker, and so can we.

Did you know that the seeds of the Mahogany even have wings? Well, one wing each, anyway. Walking in the forest you may be startled by a loud bang, like a gun, way up in the treetops.

Don't worry, it is a giant seedpod that has dried enough to crack open and release its seeds. Mahogany seeds don't just plummet down. Each little wing spins away to reproduce trees in the far distance, and the life is reproduced, yet again.

We began to realize that God had put us here, with all the pressures and challenges so that we could grow up!

Isaiah says that we will be called "trees of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor" (Isaiah 61:3 NIV). What a wonderful start.

Jeremiah writes about the man who puts his trust in God. "He will be like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green ... and never fails to bear fruit" (Jeremiah 17:8 NIV).

The seed is perfect - the Lord Jesus. The planting is of God, when w receive Him.

The living waters are available; le us put our roots down into Him. Problems and frustrations? They are there to bring us to our full potential in Christ.

Does the tree fret and worry? I think not. It simply puts down its roots, raises its hands to heaven, and the Life in it bursts out. God doesn't raise His children in a nursery!